Sunday, April 27, 2014

Hilda and I have been camping for a month here in the Anza-Borrego Desert in the far south of California. Sounds adventurous, but the reality is that we are staying in a luxury RV resort with a pool, golf course; all that kind of stuff. What follows is a "typecast" written a couple of days ago, plus a bunch of photos. I trust you will bear with this "what I did on my spring vacation" post, but hopefully at least my worldwide Typospherian friends will enjoy this glimpse of Americans at play in a unique and lovely place.

The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park includes 2,400 square kilometers in Southern California

.

Blooming hedgehog cactus and cholla cactus on Ghost mountain

.

Morning at our campsite in The Springs at Borrego

.

Friday morning farmer's market at Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs

Breakfast with gleanings from the Farmer's Market

Sunset and swirling clouds over the San Ysidro Mountains

.

.

One of "our'" flycatcher parents bringing breakfast to a pair of hatchlings. Despite the large treat it carries, it still manages to give me a scolding where I'm sitting in my chair with camera and book.
.

.

This evening we noticed that one of the flycatcher hatchlings had contrived to tumble from the nest it the low shrub outside our trailer. We scooped it up and replaced it, apparently no worse for wear, while the parents scolded anxiously.

.

.

An immature black-headed night heron, per my interpretation of our bird book, at the artificial cascade near the 9th green

.

..

Cholla cactus in Lizard Canyon

.

Blooming cholla cactus on the Lizard Canyon road

.

.

Fishhook cactus and granite boulders

.

Chuparosa makes a colorful splash of color

.

Wind-sculpted granite bedrock near Miner's Wash Indian village site

.

Joey, our brave Shih Tsu of the desert

.

Typing under duress

.

The desert in the vicinity of Borrego Springs is the perfect setting for the metal sculptures of Ricardo Breceda

.

.

A weekend gathering of Airstream owners at "The Springs". Weekends are livened by gatherings like this, but otherwise this time of year is the tail end of the tourist season, and the park largely empties out during the week.

.

.

The desert sky is impressive night and day. I got lots of practice with star photography. Need more practice. Need full-frame DSLR camera and a fast wide angle lens. About $8,500 should cover it.

.

First light illuminates the fan palms. My favorite time of day. Cool, great light, and full of promise.

.

Blooming cholla and barrrel cactus

.

Morteros, i.e., bedrock mortars, at an indigenous village site. Probably my most satisfying photo of the trip, for what I learned in processing it, but mainly for what I hope it says about the generations of mothers that passed down these morteros to their daughters, and a culture that lived in balance with its surroundings for thousands of years. Now as a result of overuse of water in a desert and the resulting overdraft, the groundwater that enables agriculture, a community, and yes - luxury RV resorts and golf courses - will be used up in less than 50 years.

About Me

Although I work as a geologist managing the cleanup of soil and water contamination, at heart I am a photographer. Although I came of
age, photographically, in the film and darkroom era, and have embraced digital, I still enjoy playing with a modest collection of film
cameras. Like those film cameras, typewriters, too, represent precision and mechanical ingenuity. A typewriter user through high school
and college, I now use them to produce engaging correspondence and satisfy an urge to nurture interest in these fine machines. Kayaking,
hiking, and family provide plenty of rich images for my camera and stories for the typewriters to tell.
And, speaking of stories, there's no better way to enjoy our typewriters than by using them to exchange letters. I love finding REAL mail in that blue mailbox at the foot of the driveway!
Tony Mindling
1521 American River Trail
Cool, California 95614